Cognitive Behaviour Therapy – CBT

How can CBT help me?

I am an Oxford trained accredited CBT psychotherapist. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) is a form of counselling used and recommended throughout the NHS. It has been shown to be an effective treatment option.

CBT therapists work with you to understand how you think about yourself, the world and other people. We also encourage you to understand how what you do affects your thoughts and feelings. As understanding develops a CBT counsellor aims to work with you to consider ways to modify your thinking (the “Cognitive” aspect) and your actions (the “Behavioural” aspect).

Making such changes can help you to feel better about yourself and the world around you. Research shows Cognitive Behavioural Therapy - CBT, is highly effective for a range of issues including:

• Agoraphobia
• Anxiety
• Assertiveness
• Confidence Building
• Depression
• Low self-esteem
• Obsessive compulsive disorder
• Panic attacks
• Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
• Social Anxiety Disorder
• Social phobia
• Stress

CBT is particularly effective for those facing negative thinking and feelings, particularly where patterns of negative behaviours are repeated time and again.

CBT can help you to manage what seem to be overwhelming challenges by breaking them down into smaller steps. It focuses on the current problems and how to improve things now.

When working through the CBT process the counsellor will tend to ask you to think about a particular situation and the thoughts and feelings that are associated with this. What are your physical symptoms and your reactions or behaviours?

By learning to think about how such a situation makes you feel and react you can then begin to make strategies to recognise the triggers that lead to the unwanted behaviours and ways to manage them effectively.